Scheduled To Appear – 06/02

Look out Lindsay Lohan. There’s a new redheaded rebel on the West Coast. And while ratings for “The Tonight Show” are definitely up, the verdict is still out on whether Conan O’Brien can pull off his big move or not.

As my old friend HSLono helpfully pointed out yesterday, O’Brien made his “Tonight Show” debut last night – and it appears lots of people wanted to see what he’d do.

O’Brien, reunited with his former sidekick Andy Richter, managed to score a 7.1 rating and a 17 audience share in major markets, which means more people were watching him than Letterman and “Nightline” combined.

The new host’s first outing relied heavily on taped bits (including one that featured him jogging cross-country to the “Tonight Show” studio only to find he’d left his keys in New York) so it remains to be seen whether he can get comfortable in front of a much larger live audience than he had on “Late Night.”

US Magazine reported the reaction from critics was at best lukewarm, with the New York Post’s Linda Stasi writing that O’Brien’s taped sketches were “at times, painfully unfunny.”

Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker was more kind in his analysis of the show.

“All in all a large-scale, impressive debut. But we all know that success in late-night depends on the long haul – Conan knows this as well as anyone. So now I want to see how he follows up his glitzy debut.”

O’Brien debut even rated a mention from Letterman, who quipped, “I’m still here. I knocked off another competitor.”

Letterman also joked that he had received a phone call from his mother, who told him, “Well David, I see you didn’t get ‘The Tonight Show’ again.”

O’Brien will follow last night’s guests Pearl Jam and Will Ferrell – who sang his own version of “Never Can Say Goodbye” before remarking, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m pulling for you. But this little thing is a crapshoot at best” – with Tom Hanks and Green Day.